The Rose of Marluxia
by Organization III
Summary: A look into the bitter soul of Marluxia. And a tear jerker. So yesh. Read it and cry!


The Rose of Marluxia

_Strange. _Marluxia sat with his back against a tree, looking through the mess of branches at the garden on the other side of the hedge. It was a small garden, only a few straggly flowers planted in the small black square of earth. Two people were kneeling in the center of the garden, mounding the dirt. Sora and Kairi. It wasn't strange that they were together; the part that Marluxia found strange was that he was sitting there, waiting to assassinate the two. The scythe was in his hand, he was only a few feet away, just on the other side of the little hedge. One good swing would finish the job. But Marluxia didn't lift the scythe. He didn't want to. And so he sat there, the scythe still clenched tightly in one hand, mentally telling himself than in another few seconds, he would kill them, but knowing all the time that he wouldn't. They still didn't know he was there; the two knelt on the black earth, pushing something into the soil. Neither of them said anything. Marluxia couldn't see what they were doing; their bodies hid their motions from his sight. He waited, studying the withering flowers planted randomly in the small garden, just waiting. He knew in his heart that if he was ever going to kill them, he should do it soon. _In another moment,_ he told himself. _Just a few more seconds. Then I'll do it._

"Done." The voice was Sora's. Marluxia started a little in surprise at the voice. He looked again at the two friends as they got to their feet, brushing the dirt from their legs. Their backs were two Marluxia; he still couldn't see what they had done. The two were silent for a little, looking down at the ground. Kairi and Sora's hands brushed, then clasped between them.

"It's beautiful," Kairi whispered.

"I know." Sora's voice sounded strange, even to Marluxia. "He would have liked it."

"He would have _loved _it," Kairi said softly. Marluxia could tell that she was going to cry. "We'll show it to him, one day, won't we?"

"One day," Sora echoed. Kairi drew in a long, shaky breath, and Sora's arm went around her shoulder. "He'll come back to us, Kairi. You know he will."

"I know. I know." Kairi brushed at her face. "We should go."

"Yea," Sora said dimly. He looked down at the earth, then took his arm from Kairi's shoulder and took her hand again. "Come on, Kairi. The others are waiting." The two turned and began walking away from the garden, wordlessly. Marluxia watched them as the walked away from him, from the garden, still holding hands, still not talking. It wasn't until they disappeared from his sight that Marluxia remembered his mission. With an exclamation of anger, he scrambled to his feet. He'd blown his chance, they were gone! _Idiot!_ Marluxia thought in anger. _They were side by side! You could have exterminated both of them! Fool!_ Marluxia looked over the hedge, glaring into the garden that the two had left. There, in the center of it, was a single, blood-red rose, rising up from the black earth. At the base was a flat stone. Carved into the stone were the words, _In memory of Riku, and the friend we had in him. To the memory of who he used to be._ Marluxia stared at it, feeling the emotions swelling in him. _To their friend. How pathetic, _Marluxia thought scornfully. But deep inside of him, Marluxia knew that he was jealous. They may just be two wet-eared kids, but they could feel something that he could never feel. Love. Regret. Joy. All Marluxia felt was pain and anger. Suddenly, he hated Sora. He hated that kid with his key blade and his smile and his friends and his _feeling_. He hated the kid who could plant a rose in memory of what a friend had meant to him, who could walk away with hope in his heart instead of a hole where his heart should have been. Marluxia swung viciously at the hedge, decapitating a section of it. The next moment, he was in the garden, hacking fiercely at the flowers.

"I hate you, Sora!" he yelled into the emptiness. "I hate you and your cursed flowers!" He stopped his hacking and stood there in the middle of what had once been a garden, gasping and sweating. Marluxia looked at the carnage he had wreaked; the flowers were ripped out of the ground, hewed in half, scattered to the wind. The black dirt was churned into tatters, broken leaves and bleeding stems lay crushed and muddy in the earth. The stone that Sora had placed was ground into the mud, then rose lay crushed against the earth, flattened by a back swing of Marluxia's scythe. Marluxia stood there, sweating and looking at the destruction he had wreathed, expecting to feel satisfaction at what he had done. But instead, all he felt was pain. What had he done? There was so little beauty here in the world; now he had found a garden planted by love and care, and what had he done? He'd wrecked it, wrecked someone's beauty. Marluxia let the scythe fall from his hand and dropped to his knees beside the rose. It wasn't cut off at the stem; it had just been smashed into the earth. Marluxia cradled the tattered red blossom in both hands, and felt the tears rolling down his face. He closed his eyes and just let the tears of pain come. Marluxia didn't hate Sora. He hated himself. He hated the hole in his heart where a soul should be, where his emotions should be. He hated the monster he was, that would do something like this. He hated what he had become. Marluxia's tears fell on the crushed rose, running off his hands into the black soil.

"Why?" Marluxia whispered, tasting the salt of his tears as he said it. "Why did I do this? Why does there have to be pain in the world? Why do I have to be a Nobody? Why can't I feel like they can? Why do I have to be an empty person with a hole for a heart? Why?" He shouted at the sky. His voice echoed in the stillness, mocking him. He'd never felt so alone in his life. Marluxia opened his eyes and looked at the dipping rose in his hands. He looked up, the tears still glistening on his face, looking around the garden until he found what he wanted. He picked up a stick out of the mud, and jammed it in the dirt next to the rose stem. Gently, Marluxia straightened the rose carefully, gently aligning it with the stick. He snapped off one of the drawstrings to his hood, and tenderly tied the rose to its support. Marluxia straightened the bloody-red petals, and sat back, looking at his work. The rose thrust up its bloom to the sky, leaning on the brace Marluxia had made. There was something missing; Marluxia looked around him until he found the stone that Sora and Kairi had made. He wiped off the mud with his sleeve and carefully set it at the base of the flower. Satisfied, he looked at the rose and the stone. "Now you're ready for Riku and Sora and Kairi," he said softly, caressing one of the petals with one finger. Marluxia smiled a little in spite of himself and got to his feet, brushing off the dirt. He scooped up the scythe, and looked down at the rose once again. He was glad that the rose wasn't red in the blood of Sora and Kairi. He was glad that now, they had something to remember their friend by. Marluxia swung the scythe over one shoulder, turned, and walked back towards the castle. And inside of him, the hole shrunk. Just a little.


End file.
